Shattered
by realmenglitter
Summary: A short, All Human One Shot. Jake proposes to Bella, the girl he's loved for five years, only to be shot down. An eight hour car ride home with Jacob's wounded heart takes an unexpected twist.


**A/N: **I haven't lived in the world of fanfiction for a long time now. It's senior year, and life is pounding down on me from every angle. I don't have much time to write anymore, but I'm trying to make some time. This is a one shot I wrote a while back. I actually posted it, but when someone wrote how much they hated it I took it down. I thought about it, and I realized that's not a good reason not to post things. Not everyone is going to like what I write. And quite frankly, I don't even like this piece that much. But getting feedback urges me to write, so I'm going to post it anyway. It really has nothing to do with Twilight, and they're all human in this one, but I use Twilight because it's what I'm familiar with. I've almost outgrown that world, but it still holds a special place in my heart. Thank you to everyone who reads it.

Shattered

It's funny how driving can be such an awful experience. Jacob had been behind the wheel for almost eight hours now. He was tired, that much I could tell. His sharp jaw line was rigid and unforgiving. His thick, dark eyebrows were pushed together so tightly I thought his whole face would just freeze that way. I had tried to joke with him about it, but he had just given me a look that consisted of narrowed eyes and pursed lips. Maybe it had been a smile, and his face really had gotten all messed up from looking like Oscar the Grouch for so long. Or maybe he was still upset with me for turning down his proposal. That was probably it.

I may have seemed heartless for doing it. Jake had been in love with me for five years now, and I had loved him, too. Once upon a time. But things had changed so much in the past three years. I didn't feel like we…like we fit anymore. We used to be a seamless pair, flowing into each other like a perfectly rehearsed dance. But I had changed. I used to be the carefree, no worries kind of girl. I would travel two thousand miles away on a whim. I would fill in for someone in a play and say lines I hadn't even read yet. I used to take chances and see how things would turn out. But then I realized I had things to do. Important things. Like get a job and buy a house and get an income. I wasn't sure what caused this metamorphosis. Jacob claimed I had just lost sight of myself. But I couldn't see it. He still had the whole 'go with the wind' thing going on. Which was why I had said no when he had asked me to marry him. It wouldn't have been fair, to either of us, for me to say yes. Jacob needed someone who could love him with all of their heart. I was unable to do that now.

I reached for one of his hands which was gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. I imagined him getting out of the car and his hands still be holding on to the wheel. I ran my fingers over the rough skin of the hand that had held microphones on stages and ropes on rock climbing adventures. I tried to relax his hand so I could hold it in my own, but he wouldn't give. Eight hours ago he would've never let go of my hand.

"I'm not going to apologize," I murmured to the quiet car. The only sound was the distant whir of the tires on the asphalt which was hard to hear through the windows. It was dark out which only worsened my mood which had gone south a long time ago. I hated nighttime. Nothing productive ever happened when the sun was gone. This was another reason why I had no choice but to say no. Jake loved the moon. He loved getting up at random times in the wee hours of the morning and sitting on the hood of his trusty old truck and thinking of things he could do in the moonlight. He needed someone who would sit beside him.

"Fine," he answered. His voice wasn't just hard. It was sharp. It cut into my lungs and caused the air to whoosh out in one big puff. He had never talked to me like that. In fact, I had only heard him use that voice one time, and that was when he was taking up for me. "Don't apologize. Just explain why you said no."

I rolled my eyes at the question. I had explained myself three times already. Was he expecting me to change my answer? "We don't go together," I said slowly. Maybe he'd understand it this time.

Jacob slammed his hand, the one I had tried unsuccessfully to hold, on the steering wheel. The sound echoed around the cab of the truck and caused me to shrink back into my seat. "That isn't an answer," he growled.

"Yes. It is. And it's the only one."

"Then why have you stayed with me for so long, Bella? Huh? Why didn't you break up with me when you realized we didn't 'fit together' anymore?"  
>When he took his green eyes off of the road to look over at me, all I could see was the pain. He had been hiding it well since I had said no, but now he was releasing it relentlessly. He needed someone who didn't make him feel like that.<p>

"Jake, I-" I started to tell him we were done with this conversation, that he needed to take me home then go spend a few days thinking things over. But I didn't get the chance to. Because the next thing I knew the windshield had shattered and had taken all room for sound. The last thing I remember seeing was Jake desperately trying to throw himself overtop of me to save me from the pieces of glass now raining down on us.

And the world faded into black.


End file.
